01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 12, 2006

BAY

When there's a break in the weather, striped bass are rolling on the surface outside of Bristol Harbor and along Prudence and Patience Islands, especially near Potter Cove and Providence Point, said Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine. Wednesday evening, Silvia caught 34- to 40-inch bass in the Seekonk River. Jim White, skipper of the charter boat White Ghost, says the Providence River is loaded with stripers. He also recommends the waters off Barrington and Poppasquash Point in Bristol.

This is the time of month when Ed Hughes starts finding large schools of large stripers in the waters off Conanicut Point. The fish tend to be just beneath the surface, and they'll hit flies, Slug-Gos and hard-plastic lures. He said bass have been hitting flies in East Greenwich Harbor near the Goddard Park boat ramp. Nearby, Dave Sanford has been catching a lot of stripers and some squeteague at Sally Rock, said David Henault of Ocean State Tackle.

In Middletown, Sam Toland of Sam's Bait & Tackle said schoolies to keeper-sized bass are biting at First and Second Beaches early in the morning and in the evening. They're taking small poppers, Slug-Gos and Storm Wildeye Shad. A bit up the Bay, anglers are taking fish as large as 26 pounds on squid, he said.

Tautog are biting from Sachuest Point to the Stone Bridge in Tiverton, Toland said. He also recommended fishing the rocks at Fort Adams, Ocean Drive and the Mount Hope Bridge. The bite has improved in Bristol Narrows, said Henault.

BEACHES AND SALT PONDS

Fran Sawicki, the dean of Point Judith Pond, has been catching flounder, but it hasn't been easy, he said. "I caught four real nice flounder [Tuesday], but I had to work for them," he said. I caught them in 4 feet of water, and they were nice, fat fish. I got four on Sunday, but I had to look for them. They're in places where they haven't been before. Two weeks ago, I got my four fish in 25 minutes, but they're much harder to find since the weather turned cold." Stripers as large as 35 pounds are holding in the deeper holes of the pond. Sawicki cuts 6-inch, motor-oil Slug-Gos in half and uses the tail ends to catch the bass. Three- to 4-pound bluefish have appeared in the pond, too. "My gut tells me this is going to be a phenomenal year," Sawicki said.

Quonochontaug Pond holds bass and tautog, said Don Cameron of Captain Don's Bait & Tackle. He weighed an 18-pound striper Wednesday morning. The fish hit a squid-colored Gag's It's Alive lure at the boat ramp on the breachway. Tautog, as large as 7 pounds, are biting worms.

Fluke are biting in the waters from the fish trap at Point Judith to Green Hill Beach, Cameron said. Thom Pelletier of Quaker Lane Outfitters said the fish are in 35 feet of water one day and in much deeper areas on other days.

BLOCK ISLAND

"There's nothing big and nothing consistent, but there are fish around," said Chris Willi of Block Island Fishworks. Bass have been feeding on squid, mackerel and sand eels in the Coast Guard Channel.

PARTY BOATS

Squid fishing has been excellent aboard the Frances Fleet boats, their skippers report.

Cod fishing is slow, but fluke fishing along the beaches is excellent, even though there aren't any jumbo fluke being caught. When cod fishing did improve a little on Sunday, the largest fish taken was a 25-pounder.

FRESHWATER

"All this rain will raise water levels on our rivers, but that's not necessarily a bad thing," Ed Lombardo said in an e-mail. "I like fishing blood worms in sizes No. 18 to No. 16 just under the surface. The worms will be washed in rivers and still waters by all the increasing volume of water. The worms are a deep to bright red in color and are tied on a scud style hook or a regular hook. I also like using all of the other flies that mimic what is still hatching, such as Mahogany Duns, Red Quills, and Black and light Tan Caddis in sizes No. 16 and No. 14. Black ants have also been good during long periods of rainfall. I like using sizes No. 16 and No. 14."

TOURNAMENT

Ocean State Tackle's annual striped bass tournament is scheduled for May 20-21 to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence and Camp Davis. There will be separate prizes for the top anglers in each of three divisions: boat, shore, and fly rod. Entries close May 18 at 6 p.m. The entry fee is $25 for an adult and includes a hat and a ticket to the event's party, Feeding Frenzy. To register online, go to www.oceanstatetackle.com.

HOT BYTES

For more frequent fishing reports, go to Hot Bytes at www.projo.com./fishing/

BEST BITES

Point Judith Pond:

Striped bass, bluefish

Aquidneck Island shore:

Striped bass, tautog

Prudence Island:

Striped bass

THE TIDES

The moon causes tides and affects the activity of saltwater and freshwater fish as well as animals on land. Anglers generally find the best fishing two hours before and after a high tide, but fish and other animals also become active around the time of low tide. This table shows the height of tides in feet at Castle Hill near the mouth of Narragansett Bay. Recreational shellfishermen prefer to dig for clams when the tides are lowest, shown on the chart as "minus tides."

High A.M. Hgt. High P.M. Hgt. Low A.M. Hgt. Low P.M. Hgt.

Today 7:53 3.3 8:09 4.1 1:35 0.1 1:18 0.1

Tomorrow 8:32 3.3 8:48 4.2 2:16 0.0 1:55 0.1

May 14 9:13 3.3 9:30 4.2 2:56 0.0 2:33 0.1

May 15 9:58 3.3 10:16 4.2 3:36 0.0 3:13 0.1

May 16 10:47 3.3 11:06 4.1 4:18 0.1 3:55 0.2

May 17 11:40 3.2 5:02 0.2 4:43 0.3

May 18 12:01 4.0 12:35 3.3 5:52 0.3 5:38 0.4

What's the catch? Send your fishing reports to Tom Meade by e-mail at tmeade@projo.com.